Clear Truth
by Lovendork
Summary: Yukina's old friend from Koorime Island has come to take her back home. Yukina doesn't want to go back and she plans to show her friend the good things about staying in human world. Hiei wants the new maiden gone. And he'll do anything to make that happen


**Disclaimer: **I do not own Yu Yu Hakusho.

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><p>"Another suicide?" Maki Toumei looked over the limp and bloody body of her fellow Ice Maiden. It seemed to be one of the older maidens, who had jumped off the island to her death not long ago and was brought back for examination.<p>

She bent down to close the woman's open and lifeless eyes, sighing silently. Things like happened many times over the years, the more emotional Ice Maidens growing depressed and suicidal. Some of them even acted on their suicidal thoughts and either hung themselves or threw themselves from the island. The children they left behind, if not old enough to live on their own, had to live in the orphanage until they came of age to live on their own. The colder and more stoic Ice Maidens dealt with the pain and had no sympathy for the ones who took their own lives.

"Yes, Priestess." One of the guards of the island, Samui, nodded. "It's Yumi. We found her not too far from the island. There was a dent in the ground where she had been laying, indicating..." The young woman trailed off, biting her lip. Samui was a new guard, having started only a few days ago. She had not seen the many deaths that plagued Koorime island yearly, the many suicides that Maki – being the village priestess – had learned to get used to.

Maki stood up, nodding. "Indicating that she had thrown herself off the island." She put her hands together, saying a prayer for her fallen Ice Maiden before turning to Samui. "Please bury her next to her mother, as usual."

_God, another suicide and I might throw myself off this island. _She thought as she watched Samui carry out her orders.

Samui did as she was told and wrapped the dead ice maiden in a long blanket, picking her up to carry her to the gravesite. There were hardly ever any funerals in Koorime island. Well, real ones. Funerals were for those who really cared about the departed. Sad as it was, the Ice Maidens rarely held funerals because so many of them were too cold-hearted to care if another Ice Maiden died. At a usual Ice Maiden 'funeral', only the child of the passed on maiden, the gravedigger, and the priestess attended. If the maiden was lucky enough to make friends who actually cared for them, the friends would attend also. However, whenever an Elder died, the whole village had to attend and pay their respects. The maiden would also be buried next to her mother, that being the best fitting way for their body to spend eternity.

As Samui went to dig a grave, Maki went to the small school in the village to see if the maiden's daughter was there. Another job of the priestess was to let the family – or rather the daughter – know of their relative's passing. It was sometimes the hardest job in the world and sometimes the easiest. Depending on how the child was brought up and how the mother treated the daughter. The daughter could either weep over her mother's passing or not care at all. Most of the time, it was latter that made Maki's heart break, knowing that the child didn't care whether her mother was alive or dead. But, that was life on Koorime Island. It was an island of women who lived without joy or any real emotion for anything or each other.

The 'funeral' quickly and smoothly. The ice maiden's child clung to Samui as Maki said various prayers, sobbing hysterically for her mother. Her crystalized tears would be a mess to clean up. "Don't cry, Koori." Samui tried to calm the little girl down, smoothing out her hair. "Your mother's in a better place now."

_Any place is better than here..._Maki found herself thinking, trying her best to tune out Koori's cries and focus on praying. This funeral vaguely reminded her of the deceased maiden, Hina's, funeral. Her mother was the island's priestess back then and Maki was only ten while Hina's daughter, Yukina, was only seven. Yukina cried for the whole funeral, while Hina's best friend Rui comforted her. After the funeral, Maki remembered her mother telling Yukina that her mother was in a better place. A much better place.

"Yukina has been gone for a long time, hasn't she?" One of the village elders asked, a permanent scowl on her face. They were holding a council meeting, like they did every month. All the village elders, the guards, and village priestess attended to discuss the state of the village and what needed to be done. They sometimes gathered outside around a fire or in Maki's temple when the weather became too harsh for the Elders. Even ice maidens stayed in during a snow storm and one was going on tonight.

"Yes, she has." Maki poured a cup of tea for everyone as she spoke. The Elders first, as always. "Hasn't it been nearly five years since she left?"

Samui tapped her chin lightly. "I wonder where she could be..."

One of the guards gasped, putting a hand to her cheek. "You don't think she's with a man, do you?"

Another Elder was quick to address that. "If she is, then she's no better than her harlot mother."

The Head Elder, who had been listening to the conversation silently as she sipped her tea, finally said something. "We should look into this." Her eyes studied everyone in the room. "Someone should find her and bring her back. If she has been with a man, we will cleanse her and make sure she'll never leave again."

The room went silent, except for a large gulp heard from Samui. 'Cleansing' was the one thing every ice maiden feared. That's what kept most of them from ever seeking out a man. The village's doctor would preform a special surgery on the impure maiden, with no pain killers or sedation, surgically removing the maiden's external sex organs. The maiden would then lose her will to have any sexual encounter and therefore would lose her will to be with a man. Only a few maidens had ever been cleansed, one being Yukina's mother.

Only an Elder had the non-caring attitude to continue the conversation. "But, who shall we send?"

_Shit..._Maki stayed quiet, pouring herself a cup of tea with an indifferent look on her face. She didn't know what to feel at that moment. Growing up, she and Yukina were close friends. Maki was raised expected to be like every other Koorime Island priestess, cold and professionally distant; but Yukina was always a breath of fresh air to her. Around Yukina, Maki never had to act like she didn't care about what was going on in the village. Yukina didn't expect her to carry a stoic face and hide her feelings. Yukina was the one who encouraged her to be gentle and caring, like Maki naturally was. But, Maki had to admit that she became bitter towards the girl when she left in search of her brother, leaving her alone on the island. Not that Yukina didn't ask that she go with her, but she was still upset that Yukina would leave her all alone.

Maki almost laughed at herself when she realized how selfish she sounded. Why would Yukina want to come back to a place like this? She admired the girl for having the strength that she did not to leave.

"Maki." The Elder called, pulling the priestess out of her thoughts.

_Please...don't say what I think you're going to. _"Yes, Elder?" Maki answered. She tried to look as emotionless as she could, but she knew what the Elder had called her for.

"I want you to go and try to find Yukina first thing to tomorrow. Since you two were so close, I'm sure you'll have no trouble bringing her back. Is that understood?"

Nodding, Maki tried not to frown. Bringing Yukina back to this frozen hell, even though she missed her, was the last thing she wanted to do. "Yes, Elder. But, where would I know to look first?"

The Elders _would_ pick Maki to bring Yukina back, in fact, they'll probably laugh about it when the council meeting is over. They'd love hurt and humiliate Yukina by sending her own friend to bring her back to this ice hell. But, what could Maki do? Disobeying the Elders meant banishment and Maki wasn't ready to take on the world by herself with nowhere to go. She wasn't strong like Yukina.

The Head Elder let out a dry and raspy chuckle. "I think I know where she is."

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><p>"I don't know...I'm not much of a cook, Yukina." Botan laughed nervously as Yukina tried to show her how to make kastudon for Yusuke and the others' visit to Genkai's temple later on in the day. "I might burn everything!"<p>

"Nonsense." Yukina gave the blue haired girl a sweet look that no one could resist, smiling. "I'll teach you, we'll have a lot of fun!"

"Er..." Scratching her head, Botan nodded. "Sure, why not?"

Yukina's smiled widened and the ice maiden turned to the kitchen counter, taking the pork out of it's package to rinse it. "First, we'll slice the pork and coat it with flour, then we'll batter it and fry it. But, we have to be careful not to undercook it or everyone might get sick!"

Botan nodded – or tried to nod – at Yukina's every word. Not really understanding anything she was told, but went along to make the sweet demon happy.

A small chime was heard by the two of them from the entrance, indicating that they had a visitor. Botan, who eagerly wanted to leave the cooking lesson, quickly spoke up. "Uh, I'll get it! It must be the boys!" She rushed to the entrance and slide open the door, peeking out. "Yes, hello?"

She saw a petite woman, who had to be around Yukina's height, with curly powder blue hair in a chignon style stand before her. She was dressed in a traditional priestess' hakama and was carrying a bow and some arrows on her shoulder. For protection, Botan assumed. And, for a split second, the girl looked at Botan with a blank face before immediately putting on a kind smile and bowing. "Hello, I am Maki Toumei." The woman greeted. "I am an Ice Maiden, from Koorime Island, here to speak to Yukina. May I come in?"

Botan stood wide-eyed, not knowing what to do. Did this Maki woman want to force Yukina to go back to the island? But, she looked nice enough and Botan didn't want to be rude. "Uh..." She stood aside so Maki could come in, a bit worried about what the visit was for. "Of course, come in."

Maki bowed again before stepping in, setting down the bow and arrows she had been traveling with when she noticed the taller blue-haired woman eying them. "May I ask for your name, miss...?" The small ice demon trailed off, wanting Botan's name.

Botan perked up a bit. "Botan." She gave Maki a little smile. "My name is Botan. But, may_ I_ ask, why do you want to talk to Yukina?" She got defensive on instinct. "She won't be forced back to the island, you know!"

Keeping a straight face, Maki nodded. "I know, but I was sent to see how she was and try to bring her back." She continued when Botan tried to say something else, cutting her off. "I won't force her to come with me, I will just ask and see if she would like to. Does that sound alright?"

"I..." Botan didn't know what to say. This ice maiden seemed fair enough, but would she be true to her word and not force Yukina to come back?

"Let her in, Botan." A weary, old sounding, voice told her.

Botan looked away from the guest over to who the voice came from. "Genkai?"

The elderly woman walked over to the two, looking Maki up and down. "I don't believe she's a threat, although I have a good idea of why she came."

"Oh?" Botan stood aside so Maki could come in, hoping nothing bad would come from her visit.

Maki stepped inside, bowing politely to Genkai; who she assumed was the owner of this temple.

"Botan, what's going on?" Yukina walked in the room with a confused expression. The awkwardness in the air must've been so thick that even a naïve person like her could feel it. Her crimson red eyes went from Botan's cotton candy pink ones to Maki's sapphire blue ones. "M-Maki...?" The ice maiden took slow step towards the other maiden, not believing her eyes. "You're here?"

Maki gave Yukina a gentle smile, turning to her. "Yes, I'm here." She held her arms out slightly, giving Yukina permission to hug her, which the girl quickly did.

"I can't believe it." Yukina looked up at the older ice demon, wondering if she was dreaming. "It's been so long since I've seen you...I thought I'd never see you again, since you didn't want to leave the island."

Maki laughed a bit at those words. "Well, I wanted to find you. And I've trained long enough to defend myself, so I got the courage to finally leave." _For the moment, at least._

Yukina smiled, dragging the older maiden towards the kotatsu where Genkai had already taken a seat, and sat her down. She motioned for Botan – who had thought she was being forgotten – to sit with them, sitting to the right of Maki while Botan sat to the left of Maki.

"Let me introduce you!" Yukina said enthusiastically to Botan and Genkai. "This is Maki, she was my best friend back in Koorime Island. We grew up together, although she's three years older than I am. And, Maki, these two are Genkai and Botan. Genkai owns this temple and Botan is from the spirit world. They're my friends as well."

Maki gave them both a smile, bowing politely in her seat. "Nice to meet you all."

Botan blinked, still stuck on Maki's age. She didn't even know how old Yukina was. "How old are you, Maki?" She asked curiously.

She could detect a hint of embarrassment in the, until then, stoic woman. Maki knew she was very old in human world. "I just turned ninety-nine..." She answered sheepishly. Even Genkai's eyes widened a little at that, although the old woman wasn't _too_ surprised.

_Oh my..._Botan thought to herself, trying her best not to look surprised but was failing horribly._ She's been around for quite a while!_ She almost gasped in realization. _That means Yukina is ninety-six and so is Hiei!_

Yukina gasped audibly, not noticing Botan's dramatic face. "Speaking of age, you're going to go through puberty soon, aren't you?"

_SHE'S JUST HITTING PUBERTY?_ Botan almost stood up in shock. Is this how the demon age system works? _No wonder Hiei gets so moody and hormonal..._

Maki nodded, trying to ignore the tall blue-haired woman beside them like she wasn't the craziest thing in the whole temple – which she probably was. "Yes, you're right." Letting her guard down a bit, Maki slumped over slightly. "I've spent nearly 100 years on that island and now I'm having a child..." The thought of bringing a child into the world of Ice Maidens, making her cold and heartless like the rest of them, made Maki feel sick to her stomach.

Botan snapped out of her spaz moment and glanced at Maki. "But, how can you have a child? I thought men weren't allowed on the island."

"They aren't." Yukina piped in. "On every maiden's 100th birthday, she becomes pregnant through pure means. Nine months later, her child – a daughter – is born."

Botan tapped her cheek as she listened. "Oh, I get it now...

Yukina turned her gaze back to Maki, still smiling gently. "I can't wait to see your daughter. I'm sure she'll be pretty, like you."

_She thinks I'm staying..._Maki gave her old friend a small smile back before speaking up. "The reason I'm here, Yukina, is because–" She was cut off by someone opening the sliding door rather loudly, hearing footsteps.

"What is this? A tea party?" A boy with slicked back black hair and curious – yet mischievous – brown eyes looked down at the three girls and Genkai, walking inside the temple.

Botan and Yukina smiled wide while Maki felt herself shrink in Yusuke's presence. She had never seen a man before.

"Yusuke, you'e here!" Botan was the first to speak, standing up to greet the boy.

"Well, I sure as hell ain't in China, now am I?" The boy named Yusuke said sarcastically before smiling at her.

"YUKINA~~~~!" A rather large and thug-looking boy rushed in to bring Yukina in for a hug, obviously happy to see her. The mere action nearly gave Maki a heart attack.

"Hello, Kazuma." Yukina hugged him back, making the carrot-top blush and scratch his head in embarrassment.

"You two always know how to make quite the entrance, don't you?" Another male's voice was heard. The voice coming from a more handsome man with long red hair and emerald green eyes. He came in, chuckling at his two friends with a hand in his jacket pocket. He noticed Maki and gave her a polite smile. "Hello."

Maki looked up at him, saying a quiet hello back so she wouldn't be rude. She was trying her best to keep her cool. _There's so many men. How can Yukina stand it here?_ She then saw a pair of red eyes on her, seeing a short and spikey-haired man standing on the other side of the kotatsu in front of her. Her breath caught in her throat, not able to hide her discomfort. What did he want?

"What are you doing here, ice wench?" He finally stated, his eyes not planning on moving from her anytime soon. And, it sure wasn't because she was pretty. Maki sensed hate in his eyes. Lots of it.

Everyone in the room turned their attention to him, now quiet. Yukina walked up to him. "Mr. Hiei, Maki is my friend. She wouldn't do anything to hurt any of us."

"This is one heck of a greeting..." Yusuke mumbled before Botan shushed him.

Hiei's glare didn't change. "Don't let her fool you, she's come to bring you back to the island." His blunt accusation made Yukina turn to Maki. Her expression was hard to tell, but it was somewhere in between surprise and hurt.

"Hiei..." Kurama frowned, obviously not wanting to have a dramatic encounter at the moment.

Yukina said silent for a moment, which to Maki seemed like forever. "You only came to bring me back?" She finally asked, hurt evident in her voice.

Maki stood up also from the kotatsu, speaking up for herself immediately. "No! Well, yes, but I wanted to see you too."

Genkai stood up from the kotastu herself, sensing trouble ahead. "Let's leave these two alone, I'd rather not watch a potential catfight happen." Yusuke and Kuwabara both agreed, not wanting to be caught up in the moment and left to the kitchen, Botan being dragged along by Yusuke.

"Aw, but I wanted to see what would happen!" Botan whined.

"Hiei." Kurama called out to the fire demon once again, expecting him to leave the room also.

The one called Hiei glared at Maki for a few moments longer before finally listening and left to the kitchen with the others. "Hn, fine. Hopefully she won't be here when I come back."

Maki ignored him and gave a pleading expression to Yukina, who's look hadn't let up one bit.

"So, you wouldn't have come to see me at all if the Elders hadn't sent you?" Yukina continued.

Maki couldn't deny that. Even though she missed Yukina a lot, her fear of the world outside of the village overpowered those feelings.

"Did you even miss me?"

"Of course I did!" Maki defended. She had planned to tell Yukina why she came calmly, so the ice demon wouldn't overreact, but her plans got screwed up all because of that _man_. "I would've suggested that another maiden go if I didn't miss or care for you, but I didn't."

Yukina clenched her small fist in frustration. "But, would you have come on your own? Without the Elders permission?" She rephrased her last question.

"..." Maki looked down, going quiet. "No..." She bit her lip, wondering what was the right thing to say. "I wanted to see you, honestly. But, I was scared."

Yukina's firm glare let up slightly. "Scared?" In all her time with Maki, she knew the girl could be cold, unsentimental, and even harsh at times, but she never thought the older girl could ever be capable of fear. Even when Maki had rejected Yukina's offer of leaving with her, she just assumed Maki was too attached to the island to leave.

"I'm not brave like you." Maki admitted, staring at the floor. "I couldn't leave the island and face a world I had only heard bad things of. A world full of men. So, I never wanted to leave."

"But..." Yukina's anger and hurt seemed to dissolve away as she started to understand her friend's feelings. "I'm not that brave either. I was scared to leave too, but I wanted to find someone important to me and that gave me the courage to leave."

The next thing Maki knew, Yukina's arms were around her in a hug. Maki hugged her back, grateful that her friend was always so forgiving and understanding. She wondered if she really deserved forgiveness.

"I'm glad you did come though." Yukina continued. "I understand why you were scared and I'll forgive you. But, I'll only forgive you on one condition."

Maki broke out of the hug a little to look at Yukina. "What's that?"

"That you stay here for a while, so you can see how amazing the outside world is." Yukina answered. The girl seemed firm in this belief. Her eyes were serious, as Yukina could be sometimes. "There are bad things here, but there are more good things. I'd rather be here than on Koorime Island, truthfully. And, I think you would too." Just by Yukina's look, she could tell her friend had experienced some of the bad things that went on in this world, but had recovered from whatever it was.

Maki wasn't too keen on staying in a world – in this place – where there were so many men. But, she didn't want to deny Yukina and end their life-long friendship. So, she had no choice. "Okay, I will stay then." She gave Yukina a small smile. "For you."

"I see this old temple is slowly becoming a bed and breakfast." Genkai joked as she walked in to check on the two girls.

Yukina turned to her. "Oh, I'm sorry!" She apologized for not getting the woman's consent first, blowing slightly. "May Maki stay here for a while? She won't be any trouble."

Genkai nodded, finding no reason to say otherwise. "Yes, she can stay. As long as she does her share of cleaning up around here. I can't take anymore freeloaders." She glanced behind herself at Yusuke and Kuwabara filling up on food in the kitchen, leaving a big mess that Kurama had to clean up.

Maki bowed also. "Thank you. I'll also be glad to cook, if that's okay."

"Well, how could I turn down an offer like that?" The old woman chuckled, not minding the idea of more meals that she didn't have to cook herself.

"So, this girl is staying?" Yusuke appeared next to Genkai, looking at Maki with his curious eyes.

Yukina nodded quickly. It got lonely for her sometimes in that temple, since Genkai wasn't really a talker and the girls only being able to visit in their free time, so Maki staying would give her some company. "Yes, she is!"

"What?" All was silent when Hiei walked in the room, ignoring Kurama's pleas to not cause another scene.

Maki silently scowled at him. Who exactly was this _man_ and how dare he try to come between her and Yukina?

He seemed to hear the scowl she thought was silent and glared at her harder, his crimson red eyes seemed to pierce through her. But, Maki wouldn't be intimidated. Or at least not appear to be.

"All this ice wench wants is to take you back to Koorime Island, why is she staying?" He continued, letting up his glare slightly when his eyes moved to Yukina.

"Mr. Hiei..." Yukina started, shaking her head as she continued. "Maki wouldn't make me do anything. I asked her to stay so she could see could how the world outside of the island is herself."

Hiei went silent, not wanting to argue with her, but everyone could tell that he wanted to say more. Maki wondered why did he want her gone so badly? It was almost as if...

"Why do you want me to leave?" She finally spoke up for herself and returned Hiei's glare. "I have nothing against you." Like hell she didn't. "And, you should have nothing against me, since you see that I don't plan on taking her back anymore. Do you have something against Ice Maidens personally?"

The man's eyes widened at the question, which gave Maki a sign that he did have something against the Ice Maidens. He looked from her, then back to Yukina before gaining his composure again. He put his hands in his pockets, then started to leave.

"Mr. Hiei...?" Yukina watched him go with a confused look on her face.

Kurama followed after him, giving a small smile to Yukina. "Don't worry about him, he's alright." He then left the temple with Hiei, apparently going to calm his friend down.

An awkward silence filled the temple until someone finally spoke up. "Well~" Botan scurried over to Maki and Yukina. "Let's find Maki a nice room, shall we?"

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><p>"I want that woman gone, fox."<p>

Kurama sighed silently as he and Hiei walked down the temple steps. "You know she's not going to leave unless either Yukina makes her go – which is highly unlikely – or she leaves on her own accord. Both of those chances seem slim, I believe Maki will be much like Yukina and would want to stay here."

Hiei stopped his steps, looking out at the setting sun from his place at the bottom of the stairs. He knew Kurama was right. Who in their right mind would want to go back to that ice hell? But, he wanted Maki to leave dearly. Yukina was his sister and he didn't want her to be influenced by another Ice Maiden who could taint her view on the world, on men, on him. "Hn."

Kurama studied Hiei, wondering what could be going on in his head at that moment. He couldn't make the woman leave, so what would he do? "What are you thinking?" He asked cautiously.

Smirking, Hiei continued his steps, his irritation gone. "Just thinking of how I'm going to make her _want_ to leave."

Kurama shook his head and said a silent prayer for that poor Ice Maiden. Her stay was most likely not going to be pleasant.

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><p><strong>CandiesCloset: <strong>I started another story while I'm still writing one, not good. But, I'll try my best to keep up with both!


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